Traditionally, pharmacists have had responsibility for the dispensing of medicines prescribed by doctors, recommending medicines that are available over the counter without prescription, and providing authoritative information to consumers on the safety and efficacy of medicines.
However, as time has progressed, the role of pharmacists within the WHO European Region has evolved beyond simply “providing the right medicine, to the right patient, at the right time”, with many now increasingly providing a range of pharmaceutical care services to help patients manage longer-term chronic illnesses, and delivering acute care services, such as vaccination.
To mark this year’s World Pharmacists Day (25 September 2024), under the theme of “Pharmacists: meeting global health needs”, WHO/Europe highlights the new responsibilities taken on by pharmacists in a number of the Region’s countries for the good of patients and the broader health system.
Belgium
Koen Straetmans runs a community pharmacy with his wife in the small village of Quevaucamps/Beloeil in south-eastern Belgium. Although only a pharmacist since 2021, he has developed a good idea of how much the profession has changed in recent years from being president of his country’s national association of pharmacists.
“On top of the traditional role of distributing medicines and providing basic pharmaceutical care and advice, Belgian pharmacists have been gradually providing many more extra health services,” he explains. “During the pandemic, for instance, we took on the provision of both COVID-19 testing, as well as vaccination. Since last year, this has extended to immunization against influenza. We’ve also been more involved in prevention and screening programmes, with our members in the Brussels and Walloon region, this year, taking on a central role in colon cancer screening.”
Republic of Moldova
Larisa Agachi works in the Glodeni district of the Republic of Moldova, where she has been a pharmacist for 47 years. She manages a network of 3 pharmacies in the area.
“In recent years, our pharmacists have had more of a role in educating patients to increase their level of responsibility towards treatment,” she says. “The success of treatments depends not just on the combined efforts of doctors and pharmacists, but also, to a large extent, on the patient’s attitude and behaviour towards medication. This has meant improving our own communication skills so that we can explain things better and in a more understandable way to those who need our help.”
Portugal
Ema Paulino has been a practising pharmacist since 2001, and now manages what was previously her grandmother’s pharmacy business in the city of Almada, close to Lisbon. Like many other pharmacists, she has seen her role become much more about disease prevention, diagnostic testing and medicines use support.
“We have expanded the number and type of point-of-care tests we can offer the public,” she says, “teaming up with other health-care professionals to have, for instance, nutrition and nurse consultations within pharmacies. Nowadays, we also administer vaccines and are able to dispense a number of medicines only previously available through hospitals.”
Spain
Jesús Agular Santamaria is President of the General Pharmaceutical Council of Spain and owner of a community pharmacy in Burgos, a small city in the community of Castilla y León. Since he began practicing as a pharmacist in 1985, he has seen huge changes in the breadth of responsibilities that he, and the 80 000 pharmacists that his organization represents, have taken on.
“Our function has evolved from dispensing medications to becoming key health-care professionals for pharmacotherapy management – in other words, monitoring and optimizing treatment, and ensuring that patients use medications appropriately to obtain the best therapeutic outcomes,” he says. “This evolution continues as the profession adapts to new technologies, patient demands and changes in the health-care system.”
United Kingdom – Scotland
Maurice Hickey has been a registered pharmacist for over 40 years, and currently splits his time as a community pharmacy locum in a couple of small towns in southern Scotland and as Head of Policy in Scotland for the Pharmacists’ Defence Association trade union.
“The role and practice of pharmacists has evolved at a bewildering speed – but for the better, I must add,” he says. “We’ve moved towards more ‘pharmaceutical care’, making better use of pharmacists’ unique training, to concentrate on skills and knowledge instead of sheer volume of prescriptions processed. So, rather than just being custodians of the drugs supply system, we are now being seen first and foremost as experts on drugs and as clinicians.”
Pharmacy Care and Pharmaceutical Services: a high-level policy symposium
In addition to celebrating World Pharmacists Day, WHO/Europe, in association with the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), is organizing a symposium on 24 September to discuss how pharmacists can and should contribute to effective health-care delivery.
Bringing together policy-makers and representatives from professional communities of pharmacists, this event will also highlight further examples of how pharmacists’ roles have been expanded beyond the traditional supply and dispensing of medical products, both to improve patient care and reduce the burden on other health professionals.
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